UK’s May tours Europe in dismay, EU hard on Brexit deal
European Union leaders have reiterated their position on a divorce deal signed with the UK as British Prime Minister Theresa May visits European capitals to improve chances for ratification of the agreement in the British parliament.
May met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Tuesday hours after the German leader told members of her conservative parliamentary group that there was absolutely no chance for a renegotiation of the Brexit agreement which she and other EU leaders signed in Brussels last month.
Merkel, however, said that the EU was ready to give May some assurances that the bloc would not interpret the exit treaty in a way that could harm Britain.
The trip came a day after May postponed a crunch parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal, saying she would try to receive reassurances from the EU so that the agreement could go through the parliament before Britain leaves the EU in March next year.
Before meeting Mekrel, May held discussions in Amsterdam with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. She was also planned to meet officials in Brussels over the issue.
EU Commission chief Jean Claude Juncker said that the Brexit deal was the best and only deal possible.
“The deal we achieved is the best possible. It’s the only deal possible. There is no room whatsoever for renegotiation,” Juncker said in an address to EU parliamentarians in Strasbourg.
Back in Britain, there were reports that members of May’s ruling conservative Party had gathered enough signatures to start a no-confidence motion against her. Others denied the report by Sky News which said chairman of the so-called 1922 committee Graham Brady was waiting for the premier to return to start the motion.
May’s office also responded to questions on when she would submit her improved version of the Brexit deal to the parliament with a spokeswoman saying on Tuesday that the vote would take place before the January 21 deadline.
The British parliament held a fresh debate on the issue while May was abroad. During the session, Leader of the opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn again criticized May for her decision to delay the parliamentary vote, saying she was expected to return immediately to the House of Commons with a better deal in hand.
“Yesterday the prime minister demeaned her office by unilaterally taking her discredited deal off the table and running away rather than face the verdict of this house,” said Corbyn, adding, “Our prime minister is traipsing around the continent in pursuit of warm words.”
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